Railway draft rigging



Dec. 26, 1933. s. B. HASELTINE RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGING Filed Feb. 15. 1929 Patented Dec. 26, 1933 rice '1 I RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGING Stacy B. Haseltine, Chicago, 111., assignor to H. Miner, Inc., Chicago, 111., acorporation of Delaware.

Application February 15,1929. Serial No. 340,153

' Claims. (on. 213 22) This invention relates to improvements inraih way draft riggings.

The main object of the invention is to provide a railway draft rigging including the usual standard coupler and cooperating shock absorbing means connected to the, coupler by a yoke having a keyed connection with the, coupler, wherein the coupler has greater travel in buff than in draft tocompress the shock absorbing means to a greater extent, thereby providing higher resistance .to buffingthan draft shocks, and in connection with which a main outer follower cooperating with outer stop lugs on the usual center sills is employed and outward move ment of the coupler in draft islimitedby engage ment of the coupler key with stop means on the sills, the coupler key being guided in slots proincreasing the strength of the stop. shoulder portions thereof. g I p A further object of the invention is to pro vide a railway draft rigging of the character spec; ified in the precedingparagraph, wherein the main follower is also provided with a rear, exten-' sion whereby the follower is materially "strength: ened and is adapted .to properly cooperate with the wedge of the friction shock absorbing'mechanism and with the coupler means having longer travel in buff than in draft.

A further object of the invention "is to prm vide an outer follower for a railway draft riga ging having forward and rear extensions adapted to cooperate respectively with the inner end of the coupler shank and the outer end of the wedge of the friction shock absorbing n1echa nism, the forward extension being of .such a width as to freely pass between the side walls of a hooded yoke and the rearward extension be- ;ing laterally enlarged to reinforce the mainfollower, the over-all width of said enlarged portion of the rear extension exceeding the spacing between the side walls of the hood, whereby it is impossible to assemble the follower incorrectly with the other parts of the draft rigging, that is, in a position with the extensions reversed.

Other and further objects of theinvention will, more clearlyappear from the description and claims hereinafter following.

In the drawing forming a part of this specifiprovided'with aligned slots 17- 17 which regis cation, Figure ,1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the underframe structure at one end ofthe car, illustrating my improvements in connection therewith. Figure 2 is a horizontal longitudinal sectional view, corresponding substantially to the line 2-2 of Figure 1; And Figfiller 'castingof the underframe structure, the

stop lugs 11 proper being formed on forwardly extending arms of said casting. A standard cou ple'r is indicated at 12, the samebeing provided with the usual head 13, whichis only partly shown in the drawing.

'In carrying out my invention, I provide the sills 10 with" aligned, coupler key guide slots 14-44: at the forward ends thereof. The casting 15, forming a combined striking member and front stop lugs, is secured'to the front ends of the, center sills 10. This casting comprises a pair of rearwardly extending side arms'1616 which "form the front stop lugs of the railway draft rigging'and by which the casting is fi xed to the draft sills. The stop lugomembers 16 are ter with the slots "14 0f the sills. 7

At the forward end, the casting 15 is provided with laterally extending flange portions 117 -117 and atransversely disposed top section 18 forming the striking plate proper. The striking plate member is reinforced by top andbottom horizontal walls 19 and20, the wall 19, having a vertical flange portion 21 which is secured to the end sill structure.,22 of the car. The opening defined by, the side portions 117' and .the top member 18 of], the casting accommodates the coupler shankf At the forward ends,the walls of'the guide slots 1'? are reinforced by outwardly projecting lateral vertical flanges 2323 braced by horizontal webs formed integral with the flanges 117. The front end walls, of the slots 17, together with the reinforcing flanges 23, form outer stop members cooperating with the coupler key to limit the outwardrnovement thereof. The 5, slots 17 terminate short of the inner ends of the lug members 16, whereby solid wall portions are provided at the inner ends ofsaid slots, thus re- .inforcing the stop shoulder portions of'said lugs.

A friction shock absorbing mechanism of 1m.

standard width and height is disposed between the draft sills, the same including the usual friction shell 24, friction shoes 25, wedge block 26 and main spring resistance 27. The friction shock absorbing mechanism needs no further description as the same is old and well known in the art. The inner end of the friction shell 24 cooperates with the rear stop lugs llin-the usual manner.

A follower 28 is interposed between the inner end of the shank of the coupler 12 and the wedge member of the friction shock absorbing mechanism. The follower 28 is in the form of a relatively heavy substantiallyrectangular plate having a centrally disposed lugor extension 2-9 on the front side thereof, engaging directly the inner end of the coupler shank.

On the rear side, the follower 28 is provided with another boss or extension 30 whichbears on the front end of the wedge block 26. The extension 30 issomewhat longer than the extension 29 and isv provided with lateral enlargements in the form of lengthwise extending ribs or webs 130 at the opposite sides thereof, as clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3. The over-all width of the extension 30 at said enlargements is considerably greater than thespace between the side walls at the inner endof the hood of the yoke, whereby the follower cannot be incorrectly assembledwith the yoke, that is, in a reverse position from that shown in the drawing, inasmuch as the, extension 30 cannot be entered between the side walls of the hood of the yoke, thus assuring-the proper positioning of the main fol? lower withthe longer extension disposed rearwardly. It will be appreciated that it is highly importan that e o b m d n ass mblin the parts of the mechanism, as a reversal of the follower would not only materially affect the len t o th mp s on oke. 9f" he a in h h, u w u d. use an und sir b s a tion of the owe and w d block e s po i ion Of wa t v ad i ion, he bs 13 serv t re th -th'thl e tens on 3 and th l l r ate itself, nf cin h att agains fi id eil h p osite. i nd Outward m e en o h o owe is mit d n? en a me w t sh u Of he t le is memb r 1 a a. rn friction shock absorb n m ha ism and the front follower 28, are disposed within a yoke 31, havin he nd h t m a ms. a ver ic co nettin po ti n at he ea nd h reof and a hsi de wn e po ti n ,2- The h o o tion and front I stop' lug member during, 7 outward 3 defined by top. and bo om Wel ormin extensions ofthe arms of the yokeand spaced connecting side walls 33+-33. The side walls are slotted, as indicated at 34,3 4, to accommodate the coupler key 35, which connects the yoke to the coupler shank. The key 35. extends through anopening in the coupler shank, the slots 3A of the yoke, and has the outer ends thereof work ing in the slotsof the front stop lugs and draft si sh key is pr fe ably orthe h aded pe and is secured by theusual cotter pin or other holding device. The side walls of the hood are spacedf om the side edges of the shank of the conpler. so as to. permit the necessary swinging movement of thelatter. The top, wall of the hood is cut away, as indicated at 3.6, at the for ward n of h Yoke, o a qp d e rushes.- lal v cle a ce bet een h m an he hor z ontal web 20 of the combined strikingcasting movement of the coupler and yoke. The bottom wall of the hood of the yoke has the forward end portion thereof upwardly offset, as indicated at 37, to provide a supporting ledge for the coupler shank closely adjacent the head of the same.

The yoke is supported by plates 40-40 secured to the bottom flanges of the sills 1010.

The slots in the front stop lugs and center sills are of such a length that movement of the key 35, the coupler and the yoke will be limited before the friction shell 24 engages the follower 283 The slots of the stop lugs and sills extend inwardlysuch a distance so as to permit compresapproximately twice the travel o'f the'same during d af In the normal position of the parts, the front ollower is in en a m n i h the o h ld s of the stop lug members 16 and has the enlargements or projections at'the front and rear sides thereof bearing respectively on the inner'end of the coupler shank and the front end of the wedge block, the coupler key 35: .beingin engagement with the'front end walls of the slots ofthe hood of the yoke and spaced from the rear end walls f sa d lo In h s p s ti n o the Pa t inn r nd Wa s o the slot 4 o the d pa d f wa dly of th i ner n Walls o th slot in the stop lugs and sills, but the length of h slo s 3 is s h hat u l o s i f the ear; in raft. is p sible it o t h h h ke s' ib into en ag me t h inner ends'df the ots.

i The peration of m im d ra ay draft ri gi assumi a ul i r dra a as appl ed to h oup e s as o l The yoke will be pulled forwardly by means th oup er key t re c m r s n e frich shock abs rbin means h i he inner end of the yoke and thefollower 28, which is, eld ation ry by the 5 201 11 251 The tw movement o the, coupl s na ly li it d by en a emen of he ront edg o the 35 i the front end walls of the slots of the stop lugs, wh nonin emehip the y an Commits" sion of the friction shock absorbing mechanism will also be limited. The draftmovement of the coupler is thus equal to the. Spacing between the yoke therewith and restoring all of the parts to thenormal position shown in the drawing. Durmg the buffing action, the coupler will be forced inwardly; car n th lo er 8 th r and ompr ss n t e friction sh ck abs i ha nism between the follower and the stop lugs 11. Inasmuch as the follower 23 is provided with the.

projection 30,movernent of the follower continues until thesame is limited by engagement with the front end of the friction shell, the'projection 30 be n of such a size as to enter the front end of the shell and force the wedgeblock inrdl 2 3 0 1 he f ont miQ th Salim h amount of travel of the coupler in buff is therefore equal tothe spacing between the follower 28 and the front end of the friction shell, which is substantially double the spacing between the key and the frontstop walls of the key slots of the front stop lugs, but during a bufiing action no rearward movement of the yoke occurs, due to the length of the slots 34 thereof.

Expansive action of the friction shock absorbing mechanism, when the actuating force is recoupler of standard size and a friction shock absorbing mechanism of standard width and height may be employed. The use of the coupler of standard size is made possible by the employment of the main follower having the extension at the front sides thereof cooperating with the inner end of the coupler shank.

It is further pointed out that by providing the extension on the forward side of the front follower, the main portion of the follower is spaced inwardly of the key receiving slots of the stop lugs, thereby permitting the use of stop lugs having solid wall portions at the inner ends of the key guide slots, whereby the stopshoulder portions of the lugs are of solid metal and of maximum strength. This arrangement also provides for a yoke having a hood of rugged design, inasmuch as the slots in the side walls of the yoke hood are closed at the rear ends, thereby providing sufficientmetal rearwardly of the slots.

While I have herein shown and described what I consider the preferred manner of carrying out my invention, the same is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes and modifications which come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim: i i

1. In a railway draft rigging, the. combination with center sills; of acoupler having longer travel in buff than in draft; a friction shock absorbing mechanism includinga friction shell, friction shoes and cooperating wedge member, said wedge member and shell having relative movement toward and away from each other; a yoke within which said friction shock absorbing mechanism is disposed; a key connecting the yoke to the coupler; inner and outer stop lugs on the sills, said outer lugs and sills having aligned-slots within which the outer ends of the key work, the slots of the outer lugs being closed at the outer and inner ends by solid walls, the outer end walls of said slots forming outer stop means for the key; and a main follower interposed between the inner end of the coupler and friction shock absorbing mechanism, said follower having its out ward movement limited by engagement with the stop lugs, saidfollower having extensions at the front and rear sides thereof engaging the inner end of the coupler and the wedge of the friction shock absorbing mechanism respectively in the full release position of the parts.

2. In a railway draft rigging, the combination with center sills having front and rear stop lugs:

between said sil1s,- said friction shock absorbing mechanism including a relatively movable friction shell and wedge block, said shell cooperating with therear stop lugs; a coupler; a main follower interposed between thecoupler and wedge of the friction shock absorbing mechanism and cooperating with the outer stop lugs, said follower having front and rear extensions engagingv the inner end of the coupler shank and the wedge of the friction shock absorbing mechanism, respectively; a yoke within which said friction shock absorbing mechanism and follower are disposed;

and a key connecting the coupler and yoke,.said key working in slots in the draft sills and having its outward movement limited by engagement with the outer end wallsof said slots, thereby limiting the compression stroke of the shock absorbing mechanism in draft.

3. In a railway draft rigging, the combination with center sillshaving front and rear stop lugs;

of a friction shock absorbing mechanism between said sills, said mechanism including a relatively movable friction shell and wedge block; a yoke within which said mechanism is disposed, said 7 yoke having a hood member provided with spaced side walls; a coupler having the shank thereof extending into said hood between the side walls;-

. 4. In a railway draft rigging, the combination to cooperate respectively with the friction shock absorbing mechanism and the inner end of the coupler shank, the flat face-at the rear of said follower beingengageable with the friction shell,

said projection on the front of the follower cor-' responding in cross-sectional size to the coupler shank and said projection on the rear of the follower being of greater width than the spacing between the side walls of the hood of the yoke and of such an overall size as totelescope freely within the friction shell.

5, In a railway draft rigging, the combination with spaced draft sills; of front stop means presenting stop shoulders, said means being secured to the sills, said step means and sills having aligned coupler key slots spaced forwardly from said stop shoulders; a hooded yoke; a shock absorbing means and cooperating front follower 1 of a friction shock absorbing mechanism disposedside of said follower fixed with respect to and projecting beyond said stop means in full release position of the draft rigging, said projecting abutment means being of such a size as to freely telescope within the hood of the yoke, said abutment means maintaining the butt end of the coupler shank spaced from the stop shoulder engaging portions of the follower, said follower having a fiat rear face adapted to engage said shell to limit relative movement of the follower and shock 

